What power do rent-a-cop on public street have?

[randomguy]

Thank you for posting this. It proves you have no clue

That is easy to say that. Would you like to be more specific on which part you feel I have no clue?

 

[Some Random Guy]

That is easy to say that. Would you like to be more specific on which part you feel I have no clue?

You said:

If they are off duty they are off duty. They are welcome to call their friends if they are pissed that I ignored them.

and

Basically while working as security they can't really go after you and will need to call black and white.

This is incorrect. An off-duty police officer is still a police officer - they just aren't getting paid by the city. They still have the right to cite and arrest for crimes committed in their presence. They are not required to call an on-duty policeman to come and arrest you. They have statewide law enforcement authority, and are not limited to just their on-duty jurisdiction.

 

[Some Random Guy]

Actaully, after reading your posts again, I suspect that you are not arguing that they have the authority to cite you, but rather they have the inability to catch you if you flee.

Well, I suppose you could be incredibly stupid and flee the scene when the officer tries to cite you. Risking jail time for a minor traffic delay seems a little short sighted to me though.

Perhaps Carl could shed some light on the pursuit rules and whether you can truly escape prosecution by merely having the officer lose sight of your vehicle.

 

[randomguy]

Actaully, after reading your posts again, I suspect that you are not arguing that they have the authority to cite you, but rather they have the inability to catch you if you flee.

Well, I suppose you could be incredibly stupid and flee the scene when the officer tries to cite you. Risking jail time for a minor traffic delay seems a little short sighted to me though.

Perhaps Carl could shed some light on the pursuit rules and whether you can truly escape prosecution by merely having the officer lose sight of your vehicle.

I do not know you but if when someone in plain cloth on regular bike screams police stop I usually ignore them and so do most people. There is a reason why undercover unit are prohibited by most pd policy to perform traffic duty(or is it an actual law, not sure). Unless an average would actually stop for someone screaming police I would not consider that it would be fleeing from police officer. Regarding my statement of losing sight of you. If an officer witness you committing traffic violation they need to keep an eye on you at all times. Reason it is like that is because if they find the vehicle 5 min later it do not mean same person was driving it. I would love to hear from carl on what is require to pull over a vehicle especially when you're off duty.

 

[Some Random Guy]

when someone in plain cloth on regular bike screams police stop

Oh, and when you make this argument, you should expect the police officer to remind the court that they were directing traffic while wearing a jacket that said POLICE in big block letters.

As you stated before,

The reason i really asked is that a movie is being filmed near us couple of blocks down from our street and i see guys on motorcycle nd having either flag jacket(same type that tow guys put on when they are outside) or cap on them that says police. From time to time they will stop traffic for couple of minutes.

 

[Zigner]

Once they've identified themselves as police, your argument flies out the window

 

[randomguy]

Oh, and when you make this argument, you should expect the police officer to remind the court that they were directing traffic while wearing a jacket that said POLICE in big block letters.

As you stated before,

It's one of those safety jacket with pretty small letters and if it's at night no way most people will see the wording.

 

[randomguy]

Once they've identified themselves as police, your argument flies out the window

Really? Can you or someone else tell me/explain what is require for someone to identify as police officer? Before you say that, buying a police badge is not illegal just illegal to use it.

 

[CdwJava]

Except for the fact that they are not equipped to do either. They are not on police bike, meaning they are no on bike that have proper lights to pull vehicle over. Having ambro yellow lights on front and yellow/red in the back is enough to pull someone ass over. They are not in proper uniform/displaying badge etc for public to associate them with being police officer. Basically after reading all of the replys from carl it's pretty clear that most they can do is to call their friends. That might not do much in California being that an officer must keep an eye on vehicle at all time before pulling them over for infraction.

If you really think that is ALL they can do, you may be in for a rude awakening.

The officer can get your license plate and write the report himself, match your photo with DMV records, and then submit the matter for a complaint if he chose to go through that.

But, ALL of this can be avoided if you just chose to behave in a civilized and reasonable manner and wait for the two minutes. That way you won't risk citation or jail, you won't risk colliding with a vehicle, equipment, or people, and you won't be showing the world that you are pompous and self-important.

I know that nothing any of us tells you will deter you from your course of action. You will do it anyway because you feel you CAN. All I can pray for is that your desire to "show the man" doesn't get someone else hurt in the process.

 

[randomguy]

If you really think that is ALL they can do, you may be in for a rude awakening.

The officer can get your license plate and write the report himself, match your photo with DMV records, and then submit the matter for a complaint if he chose to go through that.

But, ALL of this can be avoided if you just chose to behave in a civilized and reasonable manner and wait for the two minutes. That way you won't risk citation or jail, you won't risk colliding with a vehicle, equipment, or people, and you won't be showing the world that you are pompous and self-important.

I know that nothing any of us tells you will deter you from your course of action. You will do it anyway because you feel you CAN. All I can pray for is that your desire to "show the man" doesn't get someone else hurt in the process.

CdwJava I thank you for reply. My vehicle is a company vehicle so matching it with dmv record will be hard if not impossible to see who was driving the vehicle. Otherwise yes using plate # and looking up register owner to see if he/she was the driver could/would technically work.

 

[Zigner]

CdwJava I thank you for reply. My vehicle is a company vehicle so matching it with dmv record will be hard if not impossible to see who was driving the vehicle. Otherwise yes using plate # and looking up register owner to see if he/she was the driver could/would technically work.

Funny, I would think that the company would know who has the vehicle?

And, for when you come back to say that you OWN the company...well then we're back to them identifying you...duh!

 

[randomguy]

Funny, I would think that the company would know who has the vehicle?

And, for when you come back to say that you OWN the company...well then we're back to them identifying you...duh!

It's corp owned by my wife. Not listed on any paperwork. Unless something have change company is still not required to id the driver.